President Donald Trump said he "has full faith" in and accepts the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that meddling took place during the 2016 elections as he prepared to meet with members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday.

"I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that meddling took place," Trump said adding that others could have been involved.

Trump also defended his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, insisting it was a success in spite of the widespread political backlash at home over his remarks at a Helsinki news conference.

The White House said the president would talk to reporters about the summit at a 2 p.m. meeting with members of Congress – speaking before cameras for the first time since arriving back in Washington.

The president drew criticism, even from some of his closest Republican allies, for his comments in which he seemed to accept Putin's denials of election meddling in conflict with his own intelligence community's conclusion that Russia did, in fact, interfere in the election.

Among the strongest rebukes of the president's performance came from close ally Newt Gingrich, who called for Trump to immediately correct what he characterized as the "the most serious mistake of his presidency."